Sears Wins Round In Wrench Suit

January 16, 1985

A FEDERAL judge has refused to reinstate an $8.2 million award given in 1982 to Peter Roberts, a Tennessee man who said that Sears, Roebuck and Co. had infringed on his patent for a quick-release ratchet wrench. The decision, by Senior U.S. District Judge Bernard M. Decker, is the latest in a long-running battle between Roberts and Sears that began in 1969. The U.S. Court of Appeals ruled in 1983 that a new trial should be held to determine whether the patent on the wrench was invalid because the device was common in the marketplace and outside the realm of patent law. Decker`s ruling apparently clears the way for another trial.